# Documentation

Unfortunately, good code won't speak for itself. Even the most elegantly designed and well-written codebase that solves the most pressing problem in the world won't just get adopted on its own. You, the open-source creator, need to speak for your code and breathe life into your creation. That's where technical writing and documentation come in. (*Source credit:* [*Kevin Xu's article on from opensource.com*](https://opensource.com/article/20/3/documentation)***)***

We encourage documentation contribution from everyone and generally, that contribution is divided into two categories:

* **General improvements**: typo corrections, fixing broken refs or links, correcting inaccurate or out-of-date information, and offering better explanations through clearer writing and additional examples.
* **New features or new pages**: Adding a page of documentation that we haven't yet covered in our ongoing attempt for completeness, or documenting a new feature that has been added to CHAOSS projects since the last release.

## Getting Started

We don't have any specific space for documentation. Most of the documentation you will find inside the CHAOSS GitHub repositories and on the website.

### Approach to Contribute

* **Addressing issues related to documentation:** Look for the **`documentation`** labeled issues within the CHAOSS Github repositories.
* **Checking if a page needs to be updated:** Surf around the CHAOSS community, look for the pages that need to be updated, and suggest changes through an issue or pull request.
* **Propose new pages for the documentation:** While working on CHAOSS  initiatives and software you might come across documentation needs; Open an issue to remember for later and ask for help or create a pull request to add the documentation yourself.

Once you have figured the approach below is the flow you need to follow:

* Open the [**CHAOSS GitHub**](https://github.com/chaoss) and find the repository on which you want to contribute. (Assume the governance repository here; using the GitHub.com user interface.)
* Click on the file you want to edit. For instance, I have taken the [**README.md**](https://github.com/chaoss/governance/blob/master/README.md) file. Click on the pencil :pencil2: option to edit the page.

![](https://391714784-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-M9y2LWjPOOPJQwTgOhp%2F-MIkeDm3LzuYHNdGUrhr%2F-MIuGyC8z56ktuOTbvxS%2F2.PNG?alt=media\&token=403b14fc-713a-47c4-ad27-9495410848d8)

* Make any edits you need, remembering to always format them using Markdown. To understand Markdown better, check out the [GitHub reference](https://docs.github.com/en/free-pro-team@latest/github/writing-on-github/basic-writing-and-formatting-syntax) or [GibtBook reference](https://docs.gitbook.com/content-editing/markdown) guides.
* When you are done making changes, scroll down, and write a short description of your changes. Select the option **Create a new branch for this commit and start a pull request** and click on **Propose file change**. This will direct you to the **Pull request** page.

![](https://391714784-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-M9y2LWjPOOPJQwTgOhp%2F-MIkeDm3LzuYHNdGUrhr%2F-MIuJntvmmgVsekItwXX%2F22.PNG?alt=media\&token=dc60ed87-066a-4127-b718-e52b4f5eabd9)

* On the **Pull Request** page, write the description of your changes and create a pull request by clicking on **create pull request** button

![](https://391714784-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-M9y2LWjPOOPJQwTgOhp%2F-MIkeDm3LzuYHNdGUrhr%2F-MIuLW9lzjukIpfzeZb7%2F222.PNG?alt=media\&token=0856287d-1659-424c-b1ba-eb00e1184524)

Congratulations! :tada: you made the pull request and it will be reviewed by the repository admins